Mayor Seeks New Firing Procedures

SUNRISE — The city must establish better procedures for firing city employees not covered by the city charter or a union, according to Mayor Bob Butterworth.

``I, as mayor, have too much power to fire certain employees,`` Butterworth said. ``We have to set up procedures to protect the rights of those employees.``

A police captain fired in October by suspended Mayor John Lomelo was reinstated with back pay Monday by Butterworth, who said the captain was fired through improper procedures.

Wes Debow was given back his job and $36,000 annual salary, but he will remain suspended until the city`s Complaint Review Board hears his appeal of charges that he did not meet performance standards and was excessively absent from work.

Debow, 52, also will receive five months of back pay and salary benefits. The Complaint Review Board is made up of two members chosen by DeBow, two by the city and a fifth by the board members themselves.

Butterworth said there are about 35 city employees, mostly in supervisory positions, who can be fired too easily by the mayor.

Lomelo fired Debow on Oct. 25, a month after an internal investigation found Debow involved in an off-duty fight with a group of teen-agers. Debow, who was with the Police Department for 15 years, was not charged in the incident.

``If we didn`t reinstate him and give him the hearing, I`m afraid the city would have been sued and would have lost,`` Butterworth said. ``Debow was not properly fired. I`m not saying whether he was a good or bad police officer, he just wasn`t given proper opportunity to appeal the charges against him.``

Lomelo was suspended by the governor in November after being indicted on federal extortion charges. Butterworth was chosen to replace Lomelo pending the outcome of the suspended mayor`s trial.